Assistant Principal Feels Call to Help Young People

LAKELAND | He no longer plays basketball, but Corey Barnes still dishes big assists -- now for the youth in Polk County.

An assistant principal at Polk State Lakeland Collegiate High, Barnes works tirelessly in his spare time, whether it's assisting with the youth basketball league he helped start, being the head coach and fundraiser for a local youth team, working with his tutoring program or helping with a local mentoring program.

While his sleep pattern is unconventional -- most days he's up by 4:30 a.m. and he won't go to sleep until after midnight -- he deems it necessary.

"It's a tough balance," he admitted. "If I could give a formula on how to do it, I probably could stop working. I try to create more time in a day than I have."

Who needs sleep, Barnes says? What keeps the 39-year-old, divorced father of one active is the thought of making a difference in his community or the thought of making a difference in the life of a child or student.

Barnes remembers his great-grandmother, Dora McGriff, sold scrappers (frozen cups) for a quarter. Often, she would just give them away.

"She gave away more than she sold," Barnes said. "People could have been getting over on her by saying they didn't have the money. But she didn't care."

Not turning away others is a lesson that continues to serve Barnes today.

GROWING UP IN WASHINGTON PARK

Corey Jaye Barnes was born Dec. 26, 1973, at Polk General Hospital in Bartow to Vanessa Biddings and Robert Barnes Jr., the first of three children.

His parents never married, but Barnes has a solid relationship with his father, who spent his career in the military.

He grew up in the Washington Park housing complex in Lakeland. He was raised in the church, sang in the choir and was part of the junior usher board. Barnes said his family didn't have many material things, but it was OK.

"We were poor, but we were happy," he said. "I didn't know what it was to have because we didn't. It wasn't a bad thing. I had no complaints because it made me appreciate the things we had. We didn't have a lot, but we had enough."

Like most boys in the community, Barnes played sports. But it was his love for books that really gave him a release.

Barnes said he read anything -- from the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels to sports magazines.

"I read a lot because it allowed me not to be in my situation," he said. "It was my escape."

But Barnes credits his great-grandmother with laying the foundation for his success.

"Anything I am, anything I've done is because of her," Barnes said. "How I try to deal with people is off of her example. She was a small lady. She was only ... 110 pounds, but she was strong. She lived until she was 110.

"I never wanted to disappoint my grandmother," he said. "I never wanted to be in a situation where my grandmother had to talk to me through a glass door. I never drank. I never smoked. I never hung out real late. And I could have as she was older, but I never wanted to let her down. And to this day, I want to honor her and have people remember her through my actions."

FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE

Barnes played both football and basketball at Kathleen High. Former basketball coach Alvin Jones said he remembered a very mature, focused and disciplined player.

"He didn't say a whole lot of nonsense," Jones said. "But what he had to say was important and everybody listened."

Including Jones.

In Jones' first year as head coach at the school, his squad was coming off a state tournament appearance, and many expected the team to return. But Kathleen got off to a horrible start, 10-8 following the Christmas Tournament in Fort Myers. Barnes didn't play much during the three games and went to Jones when they returned.

"He came to me and said, 'Coach, I want to play,'" Jones recalled. "We were stacked. We had Chris Davis, Chris King. We had talent. I asked whose spot was he going to take. He just said -- and I'll never forget -- 'Coach, just give me a chance.'

"So, I changed up and said I was going to play the guys who worked hard in practice," Jones said. "Corey became the sixth man, the first guy off the bench. He brought an intensity and toughness that we were missing. We only lost one more game in the regular season and made it to state. He made the difference on that team, and I appreciated him for that effort."

Barnes went to Tuskegee on a football scholarship but returned home after two years to take care of his ailing great-grandmother before she passed.

He started working part time at the Boys and Girls Club while attending Polk State. At the club, he saw kids just like himself, looking for direction and guidance, and he did everything he could to help.

One of the bigger things he did was, along with a few of the others in the club, start the youth basketball team, The Untouchables, which later became The Fire, a league still going 17 years later.

"What's nice is seeing kids you impact through the program come back and give back and enjoy it," Barnes said. "Everything with The Fire is volunteer. They're there because they want to be there."

BECOMING A TEACHER

Later, a chance meeting with a University of South Florida recruiter, which included free lunch, a must for any college student, prodded Barnes to attend a seminar on becoming a teacher. The seminar worked, and after getting his degree from Polk State, Barnes attended USF for elementary education.

On each of his next moves, helping kids was at the center of his decision.

His first teaching job in 1998 was at Jesse Keen Elementary School in Lakeland, where he taught a fourth- and fifth-grade combination drop-out prevention class.

"My job was to motivate them and turn them around," he said. "Some thought it was a hopeless job, but it was very rewarding to see the success we were able to get there."

After four years there, he was dean of students at George Jenkins. There, he also was named boys basketball coach. He was there for four years before stepping down to take the assistant principal job at Addair Middle School in Lake Alfred.

"I didn't want to leave the team," he said. "I thought we were starting to turn things around and were building an excitement at Jenkins. It was bittersweet."

While at Addair, a friend and rival coach, Deron Collins, asked Barnes to work with him at Lakeland High. Seven years later, Barnes is still Collins' assistant coach as well as close friend.

Collins marvels at how Barnes connects with the students.

"Corey has a great way to talk to people, whether it is a parent or a kid," Collins said. "It's genuine, and they know he cares. There's a true bond that's there. He feels each kid is special and each kid has something to offer, not just in basketball, but in life. It's amazing to watch."

Things are pretty calm for Barnes these days -- well, calm for him. He is still working with the Made Men, Made Women mentoring program and also has his tutoring business. He charges $20 an hour but sometimes gives discounts for those who need it, just like his grandmother would have done. He also does an SAT/ACT prep for free during the week and is the treasurer for The Fire. The only constant thing is the time spent with his 11-year-old son, Corey Jr. -- or C.J.

Barnes has written two romance books, "What is This Love Thing All About," as well as the second installment in the series, "Single for the Night."

"I wish I could write more," he said. "I just don't have the time to write like I want to."

That's because there's more on the horizon.

Summer league basketball for local high school teams will begin in June, and then he will resume his youth football coaching with the Polk County Titans in July. School will begin in August, and he hopes to begin a mentoring program for advanced students at Collegiate High next school year.

There's also a December wedding planned with his fiance, Kamesha Payne.

"There's a lot to keep you busy," he said. "I have to be very organized. But my fiance does a good job in making sure there is some balance. She will tell me when there's too much going on."

Until then, make an appointment to see Barnes.

[ Rick Brown may be reached at rick.brown@theledger.com or at 863-802-7569. ]